Handwriting and Presentation Policy Adopted by the Governing Body: - PDF document

The Federation of Sacred Heart RC School and St Mary’s RC School Handwriting and Presentation Policy Adopted by the Governing Body: Reviewed (1): Reviewed (2): Reviewed (3): 1

Handwriting and Presentation Policy INTRODUCTION We encourage all pupils to take pride in the presentation of their written work. As well as striving to achieve high standards in terms of the content of their work, pupils also need to develop a neat, joined handwriting style, which is consistent throughout the school. AIMS All pupils should: • Have a neat, fluent and legible handwriting style • Form letters accurately, and develop consistency in terms of style and letter size. • Take care over the presentation of all written work. HANDWRITING We follow the Nelson Thornes Handwriting scheme across the school. Teachers must model correct letter and number formation in all writing, following the Nelson Thornes scheme. The font can be found on the school laptops and can be used for displays. Pre-cursive is taught in FS. From Reception pupils are introduced to use cursive handwriting (for vowel digraphs/phonics) Handwriting is taught discretely from Nursery and for 10 minutes each day from KS1 onwards. There should be constant, explicit reference to and teaching of orientation, letter/number size and position. From Nursery, children are taught the correct orientation in any situation. Wherever they are rehearsing a new letter as an activity, an adult should be at hand to ensure correct orientation is being applied (not within free writing areas). All modelled writing must be on traintrack/tramline flip chart paper in FS/KS1 . All examples of handwriting around the classroom should be modelled on traintracks/tramlines wherever possible. All marking must be a model for the children, including the correct use of traintracks/tramlines. If children copy the teacher’s model they should always know that it will be the ‘best that it can be’. Parents are taught how to support with handwriting at dedicated family learning sessions in Foundation Stage. All worksheets must be a model of correct sizing/orientation/handwriting Use of traintracks/tramlines  By the end of Autumn 2 all children in Reception should write on traintracks/tramlines.  In Y1 children should write on traintracks/tramlines.  In Y1 and Y2 any Sounds-Write/phonics??? writing should be completed in a handwriting book with traintracks/tramlines.  In Y2 children should move to normal ruled work books when they are ready to.  Any child with specific handwriting difficulties should be kept on traintracked/tramlined books until they are ready. 2

Pencil grip Whether a child is right or left handed, the pencil should be held in the “tripod” grip: between thumb and forefinger with the middle finger providing stability only. Encourage the child to relax and hold the pencil lightly without pressing too hard. Fingers should be approximately 3cm from the nib to allow the child to see their writing. Pencil grips to support this are available from the Senco. Posture Pupils must sit up straight with both feet flat on the floor. The majority of the writing arm from elbow to wrist should rest on the desk. Be aware of left-handed pupils when organising seating. They must sit to the left of other pupils . The non-writing hand is called the ‘ steadying hand’ and should sit on the bottom of the page to hold it in place. The body should be upright so that the child can see their writing clearly as it is formed. Paper position The book should be in a comfortable position for the child to write successfully. This will usually be slightly tilted to follow the line of the writing arm. In terms of using pencil or pen, pupils should adhere to the following guidelines:  Children will be presented with a Pen Licence when they have achieved a fluent, joined and legible hand  When pupils have achieved their Pen Licence they may use a school handwriting pen.  Biro pens and gel pens should NOT be used.  Emergent writers will have a range of writing tools available in FS/KS1. PRESENTATION In order to achieve consistency in the presentation on all written work, pupils should adhere to the following guidelines:  All work dated or stamped: short date for maths/long date for English and science  Rubbers or eraser pens should be used minimally, with discretion under the guidance of the teacher. Alternatively one neat line can be drawn through mistakes  Each new piece of work should begin on a new page.  Writing should begin at the margin, or if there is no margin at the left hand side of the page and sit neatly on the line  Use pencils for drawings/diagrams; all lines to be drawn with a ruler.  Children may use coloured pencils in exercise books and felt tips for colouring on work sheets; they may not use gel pens/highlighter pens.  Teachers should write comments neatly and legibly, modeling handwriting script appropriate to year group eg joined in KS2 and Nelson font throughout. 3

Presentation ALL STAFF AND CHILDREN MUST TAKE GREAT PRIDE IN WORK BOOKS. Teachers must model correct presentation and punctuation to pupils at all times. Pupils should be taught the purpose of presenting work well in all subjects, and to take pride in it. Workbooks must always be handed out with care. No books should be thrown across desks. Children should always see that their books are valued and cared for. Exercise books are covered with a plastic cover and kept clean, tidy and graffiti free. Pupils ’ work books have their full name, year group and the subject clearly labelled on the front with a sticker. All pages and corners must be neat. Children can be trained to unfold the ‘dog - ears’ to maintain a high standard of presentation. Any sheets/success criteria/picture should be trimmed and neatly stuck into books. The long date is modelled by the teacher on the board. It is written in work books from the left hand side . Year 1 pupils build up to this throughout the year, starting with the correct spelling of the day only. In Maths the short date is used e.g. 10.09.14 The title of the work is modelled by the teacher on the board. It is written in work books from the left hand side , underneath the date. In KS1 the date and title should not be underlined. In KS2 pupils must underline both . All work should have a title or learning objective. Ideally in KS2 the title and date should be underlined in pencil with a ruler In maths books pupils write one digit in each square. £ signs are written in a separate square to the first digit of money. Decimal points are drawn between the two squares at the bottom of the square e.g. 26.7 Pink and green highlighting is used to indicate tickled pink and green for growth. Books must never be bent back or rolled over. Children need enough space to have their book out flat and sit appropriately for writing. 4